Along Came a Spider
by Ali Sharr
Summary: Natalia had trained at the Red Room for as long as she could remember, and was fast on her way to becoming the next Black Widow. Until The Winter Soldier arrives to train them, and everything changes... (Canon)
1. Intro : Itsy-Bitzy-Spider

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel.**

Intro: The Itsy-Bitzy-Spider

Natalia was inducted into the Red Room at what seemed to be the beginning of her life. She had no memories of a mother, a father, siblings, a home. She was an orphan just like the other 27 young girls. The only memories of childhood she had were glimpses of her dancing ballet, being tucked in at night by a trainer, and one or two flashes of a fire. She did not know whether these were true or not, she never knew what was true in the Red Room. She knew they had altered other girls memories before. Natalia watched as the two young skilled twins were taken apart, their memories modified, and faces changed. Allies were discouraged in the Red Room. She had seen girls, one at age four, lose their memories and implanted new ones of violence. To make them more violent themselves. She had seen countless lose their names and identities. Natalia had lost her own, and was now Natasha Romanoff. She had seen much of the Red Room over her years, she was sure a few of the older girls had seen much of what happened to her. And now, at seventeen, fast on her way to becoming the next Black Widow, she was determined to find out what it was.

**Thank-you so much for reading, I hoped you enjoyed. This is just the intro to set up events to come when The Winter Soldier arrives. Be sure to favourite, follow, and especially review if you want more BW backstory, adventure, mystery, and romance between BW and TWS.**


	2. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel.**

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

An alarm began to blaze. It rang out throughout the bunks, and all the young girls jumped out and began to dress. Natasha's eyes dragged open to see the bright lights above her. She wanted to squint, roll over, and return to her dreams. A dream where she was not here. But she feared what would happen if she did.

Natasha jumped down from her top bunk, and walked over to the group dresser. There were clothes for training, for missions, for under-cover work for any age. The girls dressed in silence. Friendships were discouraged.

Today was a training day, although they always were up at 5 AM- no matter what day it was. After Natasha had tied her long crimson locks back in a loose bun, and put on sweatpants and a tank top, she made her way to the eating hall. The walls were grey where they eat, and sat on hard benches- nothing in the Red Room was comfortable. She sat down with her bunk-mate, where they sat in silence, waiting to be served. After a few moments, they were. Sliced apple and a protein shake that reminded Natasha of sludge was pushed in front of them. The girls began to eat, cringing most of the time.

Some chatter occurred throughout their breakfasts, which made it the perfect time to question. After Natasha had made it a goal to discover more of her past, she had a difficult time finding time. Their schedules were packed every day. Her bunkmate was a year older than her, which meant there was a chance that she had been here when she arrived as a child.

'How are you, Tatianna?'

She flipped her brunette bangs to the side as she turned to her with a smile.

'Good, thank-you.'

A moment passed, as Natasha looked into Tatianna's deep brown eyes, attempting to figure out what to say.

'You've been here long haven't you?'

Tatianna's smile drooped a bit, became forced, as she quickly glanced around looking for someone. But Natasha knew who. There were always guards in the facility, but Ivan Petrificoff was one of the directors. Everyone feared Ivan. He trained with them-both physically and in interrogation, he punished them when they slipped from the line, he chose their missions, and chose who comes and goes from the facility.

'Not much longer than yourself, Natalia.'

Natasha eyes grew in shock, Tatianna did know more. Natasha was never known to anyone else in the world- other than Ivan, as Natalia. She assumed that Tatianna was there when she arrived and somehow heard a brief conversation between Ivan and herself as a child.

'I guess so,' Natasha responded. That was already too much for today, she knew that to find out more, would take an extremely long time. She returned to the remnants of her breakfast and finished. Three sharp _beep's _rang throughout the eating hall, meaning it was time for training.

Abruptly, Natasha and the other 27 girls stood up and formed a long line against the wall. They stopped fidgeting, it was silent, you could hardly hear an exhale. One of the youngest recruits, about six, flinched when the door slammed and and Ivan walked before them. Their backs straightened and looked up in confidence, none wanted to be chosen as the weak link to train with Ivan. He was ruthless. He was cruel. His tactics were unspeakable.

'Girls!' He yelled with his thick Russian accent, scratching his blonde stubble. He straightened his olive green jacket and cleared his throat. His steps rang throughout the hall, walking along the line of girls, taking lingering looks.

'Today,' he exclaimed, 'is a special day.' He walked back to eye them all at once, hands behind his back. 'Someone is joining us today. And will join us for a long while. He will be training a selection of you. The selection will be based on your current skill, and your chances of succeeding. I hope you all got a good rest last night, you'll need it

'As I call your names, come stand with me. Tatianna Maschlov, Anastasiya Abramovich, Valeriya Perehudoff, Vasilisa Kashirsky, and, Natasha Romanoff.' The girls all left the line to follow Ivan. The girls he had chosen were all a year or so older than Natasha's age, she was the odd one out.

'The rest of you will be training with each other today, and will be supervised by the regular staff. I will be accompanying these girls with the new trainer today. For the rest of you, today will be like any other day.' The girls stood in silence, waiting for further instruction, until Ivan yelled, 'Now go!'

The other 23 girls scurried to the general training room, while Ivan lead the five of them to the private training room. He opened the door for them, Valeriya entering first. Natasha was about to enter the room behind her, to have the door slammed before her. Ivan placed his hand on her waist, and looked down before her. Natasha looked behind her to see the other girls were standing farther behind. She looked up to Ivan's grey eyes, her body rigid. She had many bad memories with him. Most had.

'Not yet my Natalia, remember your patience.' Natasha didn't respond, causing Ivan to come in closer, slightly pushing her against the door. His thickly accented voice came close to her ear, and bumps rose on her skin.

'You will go next. But be careful, he is strong.'

'I can handle it.' She breathed. Ivan chuckled gruffly, taking her in.

'Y-' Ivan was interrupted by the door Natasha was pushed against flung open behind her, causing her to stumble into the room. It was a man who opened the door, his brown hair fell in front of his stern face, and he wiped it back with a metal arm. Natasha glanced at it quickly in shock before she looked up too his brown eyes. Then she looked over to Valeriya, who had blood dripping from her hands and a large bruise on her forehead. But this man hadn't shifted his gaze. She then turned to Ivan, waiting for instruction.

'She wasn't ready.' The man said as Valeriya walked out, slight limp in her step. Ivan looked down on her with shame in his eyes, shook his head for a moment, and then spoke once more. 'This is Natasha Romanoff, I believe she is.' And pulled the door shut upon the pair of them, locking in from the outside.

Natasha never showed her fear, she was the strongest to come around in a very long time, but she did worry at the thought of training with a man who Valeriya wasn't capable of fighting. Valeriya had defeated herself before in combat. Natasha's hands grazed of her head, making sure no hairs had strayed. She lifted her hands to her chest, preparing in an offensive stance.

'Are you ready?' He asked, in what Natasha noted as a clear American accent. She looked up into his eyes again, which were once more staring upon her.

'Always.'


	3. Chapter 2: The Widow's Sting

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel.**

Chapter 2: The Widow's Sting

Natasha and the trainer held eye contact, each waiting for the other to strike. The man moved fast, damned fast. So fast that Natasha nearly missed seeing his strike. Her body seemed to react on its own, without conscious thought. In a flash, she slid to his right, opposite to the direction he had been circling- but the man delivered a blow to her jaw. Natasha's vision blurred and almost cried in pain, it was the metal arm that had stricken her. However the fight resumed just as fast as it had started. The man threw a block with his left hand, and tried to hook Natasha's left leg with his own, trying to throw her to the ground. She turned forward and to his right, slapping her left hand against the middle of her opponent's back as he slid past. The blow caught him between his shoulder blades, he leaned over slightly in pain. He tried to punch from below, but she staggered back in time. She kicked while he blocked, and swung a fist at her- a roundhouse punch. She bent backward and felt his knuckles swish past her nose. They slowed. She panted with her bandaged fists still raised, holding constant eye contact with the man. Then, he stood straight, went over to a small cupboard in the corner, and pulled out a blind-fold. He returned with purpose to Natasha, and quickly tied the blindfold around her eyes, not waiting for any objection. Suddenly, Natasha heard the door open, and heard a mans loud footsteps walking to a bench on the side. Ivan.

She paused, listening for any more movement. There was a whisper of a footstep to her left. She turned, lashed out blindly, felt her fist connect with muscled flesh, and heard a soft "Oomph." She paused once more, slowly stepping in a circle around where she believed he was. He reached from behind her and held her neck in a strong hold, causing her to gasp for air. She put her right leg back a step, raised her right arm, and twisted her body with a exhale. He dropped his hold, and Natasha took the opportunity to jab him in his stomach with her elbow, causing him to kneel on one leg to support himself.

'Take the blindfold off.' The man said in his distinct accent.

Natasha did as she was told, and opened her eyes to see his cold gaze upon her again. Ivan stepped forward from the bench, eyeing her up and down.

'Congratulations my Natalia. I knew you would be strong enough. This is all you will do for today, a test, and you passed. You will continue to train with him. Daily. Now it is time for Anastasiya, go.' Natasha opened the door for herself, finding that her hands were already beginning to bruise. She lingered for a moment, looking into her new trainers eyes, seeing nothing but ice, and exited the room. She nodded to Anastasiya as she exited the hall to return to the regular training room.

As Natasha returned to the other girls, she was welcomed with lingering glances of intrigue and questions of whether she was chosen or not. She couldn't help it, she felt proud. She worked harder than the others her age, and had even succeeded the older girls themselves. She deserved this. She wanted to be that special. She was. And for the first time in all her years in the Red Room, after reluctantly training everyday, after going to bed with a grimace, after planning (and failing to execute) many escapes, Natasha Romanoff wanted to be The Black Widow.

**Thank-you for reading! I felt like updating quickly because my mind has just been storming with ideas! I should be updating again next week, and if you like what you read and want more, please favourite, follow, and especially review. It really helps with motivation to keep writing :)**


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